two steps from perfect
by a scarlet scarf
Summary: after all, they were two puzzle pieces from different puzzles. they'd never match. -Travis/Katie


they were like two pieces of two different puzzles.

the colors matched—

but they never quite clicked.

so close, yet so far

* * *

_::two steps away from perfect::_

* * *

He remembers it like it was yesterday, even though it was most certainly not yesterday. Even after twenty or so years, he could still recall the faded blue birds stitched onto her overalls, the sweet melody of her singing, and the faint scent of strawberries and wildflowers in her hair.

For as long as he lived, the sound of her laughter would ring in his ears, chipping away at his broken heart. He'd searched his entire life, but he never found a girl with such a beautiful laugh.

He'd looked for that kind of sweet wildflower fragrance in every perfume shop, every field of flowers that he could.

But none were quite like Katie Gardner.

* * *

She could barely remember him, but she knew that he was important as hell.

She'd be haunted at night with the thought of him, his easy smile, the kind of idiotic genius that he had, which she'd never find again.

He was truly unique, a beautiful antique that she had a chance to keep.

But she passed it up.

She'd regret that for the rest of life.

What was his name again?

* * *

-17-

It was summer. Hot and sticky, and the Hermes cabin was bored.

Nothing like some fun pranks to break free from the summer heat.

Every waking hour not training was spent huddled up in the cabin, eating stale crackers while sketching out pranks on stolen blueprint paper. Travis, being head counselor, sat at the head of the table, and had the power to veto and approve ideas. On the opposite side, another camper with neater handwriting wrote down the approved plans.

For four days, the Hermes cabin toiled away with these plans. When the final plan was finished, the last sack of flour sketched, and the coolest sound system ever installed into their cabin, the Hermes cabin threw a party for all of camp.

There was popcorn, piñatas, and party hats. The aforementioned sound system blared all the newest hits. Demigods, satyrs, and nymphs alike partied on the place where the new demigods used to sleep. It had (with the help of Leo) been transformed into a light-up disco floor, and a spinning ball was suspended from the ceiling.

It was probably the best party of that year,

However, unbeknownst to the partying campers, Connor and Travis had slipped out to set up pranks on the empty cabins. The last few demigods were drawn out with Connor's offer of pizza, and Travis got into the cabins.

The Athena Cabin and Ares cabin had the milder pranks, mostly because the Hermes Cabin didn't quite feel up to being utterly destroyed at Capture the Flag,

The Poseidon, Artemis, Zeus, Hera, and Hades cabins were left completely alone, because Connor and Travis didn't want to get killed just for stepping in their cabins.

Otherwise, everyone else was screwed tonight.

At around one in the morning, the campers started to go home. The Stolls had already slipped back into the party, and tricked everybody into thinking that they were there all along.

As the last drunk nymph staggered out the door, the Hermes cabin looked wide awake. They had all followed the rule of no alcohol that night, and all seemed more hyper than usual.

"Here's the low-down: Connor set up the immediates, I've set up the waiters. Remember, the immediate effects are Apollo, Hecate, Hephaestus, and Athena," Travis said, looking at all of his cabin mates.

"Josie, Connor, and Maya will be one team. You three go film the Apollo reactions."

"Cassie, Tom, and Sammy, you guys are Hecate. Here's two drachmas, hand them to Lou Ellen when you see her." Sammy slipped the two golden coins into his pocket.

Connor cut in. "Hey! Can't I go see my girlfriend?"

"Knowing you, you'd probably end up making out and we'd get caught."

The cabin erupted in laughter, and Connor turned red.

"Moving on…"

The cabin split into groups, and Travis was alone in the cabin, setting up the TV set so that all the reactions could be watched after filming.

As he swept up the confetti to make room for the electronics, he caught a scent of strawberries and wildflowers. It smelled so good, and Travis accidentally swept the same place twice because of it.

He was hell bent on finding what it was.

Later, when he did, it would shatter him into a million pieces.

* * *

-18-

July the 4th.

Travis, Connor, Lou Ellen, and Katie went on a group picnic. Katie baked strawberry pie and apple cider, Lou brought sandwiches and snacks, and Travis and Connor got utensils and a blanket to eat on.

Needless to say, it was pretty much the best 4th of July ever. And it was their last, at Camp Half-Blood, anyway.

Travis and Connor started a small fire in a ring of stones, and the four of them sat in circle around it, making s'mores, and singing crazily.

Connor winked at him, and gestured to Katie.

It was common knowledge around camp that the older Stoll brother had the hots for a certain Demeter child, but Katie was blissfully unaware of all of it. Travis had long decided that he loved her, and had not put two-and-two together yet, choosing to forget the one he dubbed "wildflower girl".

Lou Ellen and Connor ran off, probably to either 1) Make out furiously 2) Make Travis and Katie awkward 3) Both 1 and 2.

"So…" Travis started, trailing off as Katie appeared to not be paying any attention to him.

"Yeah…?" Oh, so she was paying attention.

Travis sniffed, rubbing his nose."I-"

Suddenly, that sweet scent of wildflowers and strawberries was there. He froze.

_Oh._

"Er… Travis?"

"huh-Wha?"

"Weren't you saying something…?

"No-nope."

"Okay." She turned back to looking at the intricate display the Hephaestus cabin made.

Should he say something?

Should he not…?

Ah, screw it, he thought, steeling himself and trying to get a control of his nerves.

"Kit-Kat?"

The blond didn't look away from the fireworks.. "Hmmm?"

"I just wanted to say that-that-"

"Say what?"

"I kinda, really really really… love you."

Katie stiffened. "Oh."

Travis let out a deep breath. "And… and… do you love me too?"

Katie looked at him, and his heart cracked when the look of absolute pity was etched into her eyes. She didn't say a single word.

"Kit-Kat?"

She slightly shook her head. "No, no, no…"

"Katie?!"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry…" And there wildflower girl went.

Travis sat on the wet grass alone that night, with a look of pure heartbreak on his face, and even the harpies left him alone that night.

* * *

-21-

He was in Kansas.

Travis Stoll was in Kansas.

_Kansas._

Sarah had dragged him here to meet the parents, and Travis had been reluctant at first. But she'd made puppy eyes, and argued around seven or eight different points about the beneficial parts of visiting her parents.

So here he was, coming over to his girlfriend's hometown in the small town of Whinnap. It was somewhere deep in the middle of the country, where houses were spread so far out, much unlike the squashed apartments of busy-body New York.

He'd met Sarah at the Little Beans Cafe on the corner of 27th street, where he'd been rushing to get home. He'd called for a taxi, and promptly ran into a young woman, spilling her fresh coffee and papers on the cement. Travis had apologized profusely, and helped her pick up her stuff.

Later, in the cab, as he stuck his hand into his pocket, he pulled out a small slip of paper with a string of scrawled numbers on it.

Travis had called her the first chance he got, and Sarah and him had been together ever since.

She was funny, smart, and sweet, and perfect, and she was everything and anything that Travis could hope for.

Except that she wasn't Katie Gardner.

But Travis, silly, silly, Travis thought that he had moved on from his wildflower girl, the girl with the eyes that shone when she yelled at him for doing something ridiculous, or whose hands shook with fear and sadness when she bandaged one of her hurt siblings, or the one who she collapsed on his shoulder when Miranda was announced dead and the gods weren't able to save her in time.

He thought he could actually forget her.

What a funny notion.

So when he saw her and a blonde guy at the only store in Whinnap, he didn't expect the pang of jealousy when they bought a bag of candy and three packets of strawberry seeds.

He wasn't over her.

At all.

As Katie laughed at something they said, and the two walked out of the store arm-in-arm, Travis ducked down and cursed the Fates. Of all the tiny towns to put Katie in, why, _why_, put her in the same one that he just so happened to be vacationing in?! Surely they could go harass some other poor demigod.

But no, they seemed to have a personal vendetta against Travis, as things only got worse.

Sarah saw him staring at Katie and she laughed.

"Sick of their PDA? Trust me, I'll never do that to you. The boy's Jasper, and his girlfriend, Katie, is over for the summer. They live two streets down from my parents, so you'll be seeing a lot of them. Get used to it, doofus!" Sarah laughed more as she watched Travis' jaw drop.

"Come on, Travis! You still haven't met my parents yet!"

Travis remained frozen to the spot, not ready to accept the fact that he would be seeing Katie for the entire summer.

As he left the shop with Sarah, who was wearing a smidge of perfume to cover the unavoidable stench of sweat, he still smelled the slight aroma of freshly picked wildflowers.

He couldn't enjoy the delicious meal that Sarah's mother put on the table that night, nor could he feel proud when Sarah's brother told him that he completely approved of Travis and Sarah being together.

No, he was thinking about that whiff of wildflowers.

* * *

-25-

:1:

It was storming viciously storming outside, and Travis was alone in his apartment.

It'd been a long time since it had been like that, but for once there was not a single soul in his little flat.

Everything had been packed into cardboard boxes, with scrawled red marker labeling different things. Travis had never been a stickler for neatness, but he had been exceptionally meticulous with what he brought from camp. The rest would be mailed to Connor and Lou Ellen, who got their fairytale ending. Travis tried not to bitter as he thought about the luck of his brother.

He breathed in.

It was far too late for regrets now.

As Travis took the last box to its place, where it was accessible from the door, his cell phone rang.

Jumping, he dropped the box on his foot, and swore as a lamp in the box crushed his foot.

He still wasn't accustomed to having a phone on him, but without it, communication was too hard.

He pulled the phone out of his pocket, and accepted the call without checking caller ID.

"Whoever you are, I don't freaking care-"

"Travis?"

He dropped his phone out of shock. Almost a second later, he unfroze and immediately began scrabbling for the phone.

"Hello?" The girl on the other end sounded raspier than usual, and like she just finished crying.

"Kit-ka- Katie?"

"Yeah, it's me. I just wanted to talk to you."

"H-how did you find out my ph-phone number?" The box was all but forgotten.

"I asked Lou Ellen. Connor wouldn't tell me, and I don't know why."

_Of course he wouldn't tell, _Travis thought_, I asked him not to._

"Well, er, what did you want to say?"

"Um… Well, Travis- I, er, I kinda…" She trailed off.

Travis waited, but she didn't say anything else.

"Katie?" He prompted.

"I lied." She suddenly burst out.

"What?"

She was crying again now, sobbing really.

"I lied, okay?! That night at Camp Half-Blood, seven years ago, at the top of the hill, watching the fireworks, when you- when you- when you asked me if I loved you, and I said no. I lied! I'm sorry! "

Travis' blood ran cold, and he was half devastated, half feeling like he wanted to throw a lamp across the room.

"Katie, no, no, no, don't. Please."

She plowed on.

"I think about it every night. How I should of said yes, and maybe you wouldn't be with that girl-"

"You know?!"

"I saw you at that store, but it hurt so I didn't talk."

Travis sank to the floor, head in his hands.

Katie continued.

"But the point is, I called you to let you know that I really, really love you. I know this sounds so needy, but I miss you every second. Please! I really mean it. Travis-"

"Why. Why. WHY."

"-What? I just-"

"Why are the Fates so cruel?! If you had called any earlier-"

"Travis? What do you mean-"

"KATIE. YOU CAN'T CONFESS YOUR LOVE FOR ME-

"Travis, tell me what's wrong!"

Travis sighed, cursing his very existence.

"Katie, I'm getting married tomorrow."

* * *

-25-

:2:

It was beautiful, he supposed.

Him with a freshly–ironed suit, her with a classic white wedding dress,.

It was the epitome of an American wedding.

Even if the groom had asked for a last minute invitation for a random girl.

Sarah, being the wonderful person that she was, asked no questions and helped him print it out and mail it.

After stamping it and slipping it into a mailbox, Travis winced, and wondered if Katie would ever speak to him afterwards.

But she showed up, with a floor-length green dress, and her hair pulled high in a bun.

As Sarah stepped out, he forced himself to smile, putting on a false front for everyone in the crowd.

Everyone save one, of course.

Sarah came to the altar, her eyes were shining with tears.

Travis pulled his grin even larger, trying to fake the love that he knew Sarah so very much deserved. He kept that face as the priest read the vows.

Among the mass of weeping women, Katie was the only one who cried silently.

As "Speak now, or forever hold your peace." was uttered, Katie so desperately wanted to stand up on a table and declare her love for Travis.

But of course she couldn't.

Oh, why couldn't Sarah be an absolute horror?!

Why did she have to be so nice and understanding?

She looked at the altar again.

"I, Sarah Castet, do." Sarah said, happiness in every corner of her face.

Sarah's mother wailed, a handkerchief dabbing at heavily made-up eyes.

Katie studied Travis' face carefully, while swiping her tears away.

Travis wavered, and found Katie in the crowd.

Their eyes met, and Travis felt himself cry. Panic seized him, _no, no, I can't do this to Sarah, _but a groom crying of happiness was common, and nobody thought much of it.

So Travis let go of his wildflower girl, who'd go home to hide under her blankets and sob for hours.

He'd do the same the next time he was alone.

_"I, Travis Stoll, do."_

* * *

-48-

The years past in a blur, and before she knew it, Katie's daughter had turned 21, and moved out.

She'd married a nice guy, who'd been relatively rich. They lived in sunny California, where her husband, Nick, could enjoy his love of swimming and where she wouldn't have to worry about her plants dying every year.

Katie lived in a blissful household, and her demigod status was squashed back, and never brought out.

She did have a lot of neighbors marvel at her tomatoes, but that was about it.

Every day was the same, with her going to her job as a botanist and Nick going out to be a bank manager.

So when Katie's daughter called, sobbing and hysterical, panic seized Katie, and she slipped her dagger into her pocket.

She borrowed Nick's car, one hand on the phone while the other one steered the Civic.

"Miranda, what's wrong?"

"I-hic- think- OH MY GOD he's not-moving-Mom! Get here!

"Who's not moving? Take a deep breath and explain it again. It's okay."

"Mom! I-I was walking, and a car was speeding down the road, and I tried to move but I wasn't fast enough, and a man just dove in-in the street, mom, he JUMPED in the middle of the road and pushed me out of the way! And there's so much blood, oh god mom! Get here!"

"Where are you?"

"MOM! I'm at-er, on the side of 17th, near Mayburry Shop and Linad's

Katie quickly parked at the end of the street. She'd hadn't actually needed the address. The street was just a few blocks away from where they lived.

"Mir, it's going to be okay. Just calm down. Describe the man to me. Did you call the ambulance?"

"Yeah, they're on their way. Someone else called them, and I-I called you. You're almost here, right? The man? He's-he's, well, got dirty blonde hair and he kinda looks happy and wait he's talking to me, hold on—."

Katie waited patiently, while walking as fast as she could to the crowd of people on the sidewalk.

"You there, mom?"

"Yeah, go on."

"Well, this is where it get's kinda weird, he says 'Hey look, at least I got to see my Kit-Kat again.' I think he means you."

Katie dropped her phone. _No, no, no, no!_

"Mom?"

"MOM?"

Katie ran as fast as she could into the crowd of people, and she saw her daughter frantically yelling into the phone.

Miranda spotted her, and enveloped her in a hug.

"I'm sorry mom, I'm so sorry—."

Katie pushed her daughter away, after making sure that Miranda was alright.

"Mom?"

She rushed to look at the man on the ground.

"Travis?" She whispered.

The man stirred, and opened his eyes, and a thin trickle of blood seeped out of his mouth. Katie almost screamed at how much blood there was. She hadn't seen so much blood since the Giant War.

"Oh, it's you. So that's…" Travis gestured to Miranda weakly.

"Yeah." Katie's eyes were welling up with tears.

"No, don't cry. I died the way I always wanted to. Just tell Sarah for me, kay? Tell her that I'm sorry, too."

"Don't say that. You're not going to die. I'm not going to allow it."

"What are you going to do? I've broken seven ribs, punctured one of my lungs and-"Travis broke off, wheezing.

"I have ambrosia!" Katie yelled triumphantly, fishing out a small square of the godly food from her pocket.

Travis smiled sadly.

"See you in Elysium, Kit-Kat."

"No! No, no, no, no! Travis Stoll, you are going to live!"

"Easter bunnies, eh?"

"No...! No…"

Travis' eyes glazed over, and his hand went slack.

Katie sobbed.

**:SATURDAY NEWS:**

"Yesterday, an unfortunate accident happened here in our sweet hometown. A speeding driver ran across a red light, and a poor girl was in its path. Seemingly out of nowhere, a man in his late 40's, Travis Stoll, pushed the girl away and put himself in the line of fire. He was run over, suffering terrible wounds, ultimately ending in death."

The news channel cut to a security-camera capture of Miranda standing in the street, and being pushed out of the way by a blur of motion. The car struck the blur, and it was revealed to be a man with sandy blonde hair.

"The driver, Costa Reneriz has been arrested. His license had already been suspended, and he will be most definitely going to court for this incident. He has been there before, for a similar hit-and-run accident."

The news reel cut to Katie in the street, trying to force the godly into an unmoving body as the ER's pulled a sheet over Travis and wheeled him into the ambulance. In the background, police officers shoved a middle-aged Hispanic man into a police car.

"Now, moving on to the weather—"

Katie shut the television off.

"Mom? Did you know him?"

Katie didn't speak.

"Was-was it an affair?"

Katie laughed bitterly, and went to the bathroom to see if she could go drown in the bathtub.

Spoilers: She didn't.

She did however cry bitterly when the next day, a box of his unmailed love letters to her came. An attached note from Sarah read:

* * *

_:Wildflower Girl,_

_He loved you a lot.:_

* * *

-72-

It was dementia. They knew, and Miranda was devastated.

"You won't remember us! None of us! Not Lindie's 5th birthday, hell, you won't remember my daughter's 25th birthday!"

Katie was also devastated. But she couldn't quite remember why.

Something to do with… Trainer? Tricker? Tracker?

She couldn't recall him.

Ever since the incident happened…

What was the incident, exactly?

She didn't know.

But ever since it had, her memories of Camp—Camp—oh, what was it?

She wouldn't remember it for the rest of her life.

But sadly, that wouldn't be for too much longer.

At the age of 72, Katie Violet Gardner passed away.

She hoped no one in the Underworld would judge her unfairly for how she married someone that she didn't really love.

So when Katie Gardner died, it wasn't her husband who lead her into the afterlife. Not Hermes, either.

It was Travis.

He smiled as she gripped his hand, and she was suddenly young and free again. She smiled back.

They'd deal with the issues together now, no matter what.

* * *

but they were still two different people

still from two different puzzles.

and even though they found each other,

they were always just /this/ close

* * *

_::two steps from perfect::_


End file.
